This invention relates generally to vacuum cleaners, and more particularly to a vacuum cleaner equipped with a system for sensing and signaling a condition relating to the vacuum cleaner (e.g., the presence of dirt on the surface being cleaned or the need to change a filter).
In conventional vacuum cleaners, it is known to provide lights on the suction head (“floor nozzle”) of the vacuum to illuminate the area in front of the vacuum. Further, some cleaners are equipped with a dirt sensor and a small indicator lamp or lamps on the floor nozzle, body or handle of the vacuum which illuminate when dirt is sensed. To view the lamp(s), the operator must look to that spot on the vacuum to determine if the dirt sensor has sensed the presence of dirt. These indicator lamps do not project a beam onto the surface being cleaned; they simply go on and off and the person using the cleaner must look at the lamp itself to determine whether it is on or off.
There is a need therefore for an improved sensing system which provides a readily visible signal when a condition is sensed.